1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capsule-type medical apparatus for examining the inside of a body cavity, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an endoscope for observing and/or diagnosing the inside of a body cavity by inserting a long and narrow inserting portion has been widely used.
On the other hand, a capsule endoscope for observing the depths within a body cavity is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 2001-95755, for example. The disclosed capsule endoscope is in form of capsule to be swallowed by a patient, which alleviates pain felt by the patient.
According to the capsule endoscope of the related art, a battery provided within a capsule container is used as a power supply to illuminate a subject by using an illuminator. Then, an image of the subject is focused on an image sensor by using an objective lens. An image signal from the image sensor is sent to the outside of the body by radio waves.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,531 discloses a similar capsule endoscope. The disclosed capsule endoscope accommodates a battery within a capsule container, which is used as a power supply to send a signal imaged by using a CCD camera to the outside of a body.
In these technologies of the related art, the battery, which is associated with, for example, a CCD driver for driving a CCD camera, is accommodated within the capsule container. Thus, when the capsule endoscope is reused after it is swallowed by the patient once for the internal examination, the electric energy in the battery may be consumed. As a result, it is difficult to reuse.